The Vera was a Seru born of a specific Sprite race. The Vera was weaker in the general aspects than the actual Sprite race, but they were also stronger. This is because, for all beings gifted with the power to wield Life, energy would be given the ability to give life energy. But Vera was based on a certain prisoner in Alos Vasilous that had the power to take Life.

The Vera was unique as it could absorb life energy through its spell. And Rena needed that so that she could train in various ways. That was her weakness. But beyond that was a desire that she did not understand. She wanted to become more useful to Dyne.

“...Alright.” Dyne agreed.

“What?!” Jedo and Strafe was stunned.

“Rena has a lineage that I think will surprise all of us. At least, that is what the game Star Ocean 2 reveals. I’m certain that this is the case. But she needs to grow stronger. If Vera dies, she can’t train in this. Jedo. Open the field!” Dyne answered.

“Alright…” Jedo reluctantly agreed, and the force field was opened.

“Hurry! Rena, position yourself furthest from the Zenoir and closer to the Vera. Then, grim, absorb as much heat you can from the Zenoir and block the heat going to Rena!”

“Yes!” Rena and Grim answered together.

The pair went to their respective positions, and Rena began to bestow light energy that Vera immediately took notice of.

Rena began to do as Vera did and released a layer of white energy. She was always trained to shoot it or cast it. But now, she was letting the holy energy flow out.

Rena began to harness the white energy, which attracted Vera’s attention, focusing on siphoning her.

She recalled the comments of the Light Temple in that while she had an abundance of light energy, the abundance made it difficult for her to wield it properly. Most of the energy would just spill out.

And now, Rena focused on holding on to the light energy being siphoned away.

“I must hold on to my element! If I want to help brother Dyne, I must do this!” Rena vowed. She had seen how Dyne wielded all elements with precision and knew that she needed to have that and harness her massive Light energy.

As Rena focused on controlling the amount of light energy she released, everyone could now focus on their respective task.

The grueling process continued with Vera now free from the dangers of death. A few more minutes passed, and this time it was the Zenoir that was acting up.

The Zenoir began to release more energy. But Grim, the Ifrit, and Kokatorimon intervened and constantly stopped their attacks from hurting Dyne or Rena.

“The Zenoir is killing itself in its anger!” Jedo warned as he saw it.

“Jedo. Release more Mist.” Dyne ordered.

“More Mist?” Jedo was shocked.

“The Zenoir and the Vera will gain even more strength if I do that! And Rena...”

“These two have lived in an environment where the Mist is thicker and fight, thinking that they are in the Mist. They don’t know that they are depleting their souls. So they need more Mist to see this through! But don’t worry. I’ll use the Mist to my advantage! As for Rena, this will be her training too. Right now, she is in a state which makes her vulnerable to the madness of the Mist. This will help her in her mastery of Light energy! Remember when we first saw her?” Dyne answered.

“I was still an Egg when you met her!” Jedo argued.

“My point was that she could only wield Light energy and magic when I reminded her of her childhood friend. That is like Dias as it was in Star Ocean 2! She could not move or even fight until I gave her a reason to have courage. She needs this! Her current ability to hold the light is too weak. She needs more pressure! Learn from Calamitus’s insane training methods!”

Jedo hesitated. He knew that this was risky and would harm everyone.

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“If it becomes too dangerous, I’ll kill the Vera! But right now, we must try what we can, even if it’s dangerous!” Dyne added.

Jedo finally agreed and increased the amount of Mist he was releasing.

The two serus immediately devoured the thick Mist, and the amount of heat and life-devouring energy increased. But an unexpected development happened.

Rena was unable to hold on, and a huge amount of light energy was being absorbed by the Vera.

“Skrreee!” The Vera screeched again, and the light it was releasing grew brighter. Finally, it shot a healing spell on itself and the Zenoir!

The power of the Vera suddenly increased.

And the Zenoir also was strengthened. Both Fire and Holy began to attack everyone in the room.

“Argh!” The Ifrit cursed as he was caught in the surprise attack.

“Ahhh!” Kokatorimon shouted and shot a stronger bolt toward the Vera.

Suddenly, Rena stumbled down as she could feel the power of Vera devouring her Life. The heat of the Zenoir caught her off guard and hindered her from concentrating. And because of that, the Mist she could repel was affecting her.

Arya saw the changes inside and was shocked.

“Lady Rena!” Arya shouted.

“Arya! Go inside! You could help them! You are a Water thing, remember?!” The Earth Arya reminded.

“Water?”

“Remember? Do we read the books that Dyne brought in? Terra said, I am the wind, and you are Water! You need to get stronger! Rena is already doing her best to win Dyne’s heart! You must move! For my sake!”

Dyne sighed as he saw the development. He knew that it would be impossible to plant the seed and turn the two into allies now that they are fighting.

“I guess going for both was too much.” Dyne sighed as he prepared a Brimstone attack to kill the Level 2 Vera.

“Master! Let me in!” Arya shouted and got Dyne’s attention.

“Arya?” Dyne was surprised.

“I am told that my soul has Water elemental affinity! Master! I can help!” Arya declared.

“Water? Not wind?” Dyne was confused.

“Master! Please! This will also do well for my training! The Mist awakens sadness, right? So like, if I were to allow it to affect me, it would make me sad. Won’t that help me cast Water?” For some strange reason, the manner in which Arya talked changed.

“Erm… What? It doesn’t generally work that way… But it could be on to something! Jedo! Can you attach yourself to her? You are already growing in Water! Help her draw it out! She is a Martial Formation expert! Her force energy could already contain Water!”

“That sounds crazy… But it also sounds like a plan! I can do that!” Jedo agreed without question.

“Hm?” Dyne was confused. Why was it that Jedo sounded so keen to do this?

Arya entered, and even though she was being exposed to the heat of the Zenoir, her cultivation allowed her to resist it, and she bore the pain.

Jedo released himself from Dyne and flew towards Arya. The two bonded.

“Wind and Water. Amazing. I should bond with you two more often to help me train in these elements. Arya. Let’s get this started. I will be drawing your Force energy and harnessing it to become mine. How’s your Spirit Training? No use asking it now. You’ll have to learn along the way!” Jedo communicated secretly with the two Aryas.

“What do we do?”

“You will need to release Force energy and form Spirit. I’ll inject a lot of Mist in you and harness it. Emotions can trigger magic. I’ve awakened my Water through my extreme depression from Dyne’s words.” Jedo boasted.

“Why do you sound so proud of something so depressing?” Earth Arya asked.

“Let’s start!”

The Mist was sent directly to Arya. The death of her family and the painful emotions she suffered appeared.

And as Jedo predicted, the Earth Arya also was affected by the negative energy.

“Arya! Keep releasing your Force ad Spirit energy! I’ll do the rest!” Jedo shouted.

Arya was falling into a heavy state of pain and saw the suffering she had. But she also saw Earth Arya’s suffering.

One was the painful and agonizing journey as a cultivator who lost her family and wanted revenge. And the other was the depressing and unfair Life that Earth Arya secretly lived behind her social media posts leading to the torture and pain that her soul had to go through at the hands of the enemy of Tieg.

And Jedo saw it all.

The two Aryas were falling into despair and were barely able to maintain their state. Finally, Arya fell on her knees, and even Dyne became worried.

“Jedo?! What are you doing?”

It was then that Jedo injected Dyne’s memories into the two.

It was Dyne’s Life and his struggle. The death, his revenge, and the weight he carried were shown to them.

“Relax, you two. Dyne has many burdens that he carries. But rest assured, he can carry it well. Use this sorrow, but be at ease and rest. Dyne will help you. But he will need you two to help him. So out of your sadness, let there be joy from the hopes you see before you!” Jedo spoke the similar advice Dyne told him when he was trying to assimilate with the darkness of Yami.

Jedo’s desire to protect and revive his Yami was also being sent in. The Dark Brimstone of Hedoism accompanied the emotions. And in that, Arya found strength.

“I’m Team Arya now… I’ll help you girls and ship you with Dyne. This boat will set sail!” Jedo secretly chuckled.